HCM CITY Minh Lộc, a former photojournalist with Vietnam News Agency (VNA), is displaying his photos of Vietnamese soldiers and people in the anti-American war in a solo exhibition in Hồ Chí Minh City.

The exhibition called Người Viết Sử Bằng Ảnh (Writing History with Photos) displays 99 exceptional black-and-white photos chosen from thousands of images that the 88-year-old took during his career started in the early 1960s.

The images depict historical moments, the fighting spirit and lives of soldiers and people during the anti-American war in Quảng Ninh and Quảng Bình provinces and Hà Nội during 1962-1972 and in Sài Gòn until 1975.

The highlights of the exhibition are images featuring the fierce fighting in Hà Nội in the 12 days and nights in December 1972 against the US air force during the American war of destruction against North Việt Nam, and the procession of 55,000 people in Sài Gòn on May 15, 1975, to celebrate the National Reunification Day (April 30, 1975).

The showcase also includes photos of daily life during and after the war to honour humanity and the beauty of life.

Lộc said that although those black and white photos cannot fully capture the country’s history, they reflect a heroic milestone to remind current and future generations that: "Peace, independence and national unity were earned not by chance."

Đoàn Hoài Trung, chairman of the HCM City Photography Association, said the exhibits help the public learn about soldiers and people's sacrifices and resilient spirit during the heroic historical period.

He said that the exhibition raises people’s pride of the country and awareness of preserving historical values.

Lộc, whose real name is Nguyễn Hữu Lộc, is a native of the Mekong Delta province of Đồng Tháp. He was sent to the North in 1955 to study photography. He returned to the South in 1973.

He worked as a VNA photojournalist from 1960 to 1994.

Since 1975, he has had several solo exhibitions on various topics, including Việt Nam’s landscapes and endangered animals, such as the red-crowned crane.

He won first prize in the Moscow News Contest in 1968, a silver medal in the Iraq Photo Contest organised by the International Journalists Association in 1978, and the grand prize from the Trade Union Council of the Soviet Union in 1978.

In 1990, Lộc received a prize for excellence from the Red Cross and Red Crescent of the Soviet Union.

He was awarded the State Prize for Literature and Art in 2022 with a series of eight photos capturing images of women soldiers in the northern region during the war.

The Người Viết Sử Bằng Ảnh exhibition will be open until August 20 at the city's Photography Association office at 122 Sương Nguyệt Ánh Street in Bến Thành Ward. VNS